SHAKESPEARE

Synopsis

Independent short film. A dark comedy about a monkey, Huxley, who aspires to be a great Shakespearean actor. However, he is imprisoned in a research laboratory, forced to take part in a ‘monkey typing Shakespeare’ experiment. Huxley is tormented and abused by Colin, a sadistic lab assistant and his best friend Gary. What Colin and Gary don’t know is that Huxley is secretly a Shakespeare devotee and aspires to play Hamlet. Huxley, in Elizabethan dress, is seen reciting from Hamlet’s soliloquy (III i). He enacts revenge on his tormentors, falls in love and goes to study at RADA.

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Medium

Film

Technical information

Colour / Sound

Year of release

2005

Duration

12 mins

Availability

No archive copy or distributor found (4/2007).

Credits

Director

Simon A. Brown

Producer

Rowan Athale

Cinematographer

Gareth Pritchard

Screenplay

Simon A. Brown

Music

Andrew Kremer

Production Design

Tony Kinman

Cast

Ajay Chabra	Colin
Derek Jacobi	Voice of Huxley
Mark Felgate	Gary

Additional Details

Production type

Fiction Films

Plays

Hamlet

Keywords

animals; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Puppets

Notes

Notes

Filmed on super 16mm. Estimated budget £5,000.

General

Tag line: Who says a monkey can’t play Shakespeare?

The film is inspired by the ‘Infinite Monkey Theorum’ which states that given an infinite amount of time a monkey hitting keys will eventually write the Complete Works of Shakespeare. Huxley’s name is derived from the (alleged) first man to state the theory, Thomas Henry Huxley in 1880.

History

The film has been screened at many festivals in the US and UK but does not have a general distributor (2007).